His father, Georgiy Fyodorovich Kollontay (1897–1954), an artist, was sent to the camps in 1938 (released in 1946, rehabilitated posthumously); his mother, Ekaterina Ilyinichna Ermolaeva (1922–2001), was a translator (English, modern Greek).

[1] In 1971 graduated from the Music College attached to the Moscow Conservatory with a double major in piano and in theory/composition.

In 1977 received his diploma in piano from the Moscow Conservatory, studying under Professor V. V. Gornostayeva; continued as her assistant in 1979.

Between 1979 and 2003 taught at the Moscow Conservatory (intermittently; first as an assistant to V. Gornostayeva; from 1982 as a faculty member), and, from 1989 to 1991, at the Gnessin Musical Pedagogical Institute (special piano).

Beginning in 1991, performed various duties at Moscow churches (altar server, choir singer, guard).

Since 2003 professor (piano) at Tainan National University of the Arts (Taiwan, ROC.).

Tutova, Lin Yu-Ying (林藜洋（昱瑩））, Kao Pei-Hsin (高培馨), Shen Yu-Lin (沈妤霖), Huang Kuan-Che (黃冠哲), Chien Jay (鄭杰), Wang Yi-Hsing (王一幸），Bang-Shyuan Chen (陳邦玄)。 Kollontay's artistic style was formed under the influence of Russian Church music (from childhood sang in church choirs), the tradition of liturgical reading, the culture of early Russian singing and folklore (worked in the folk music department of the Moscow Conservatory; went on folklore expeditions).

All this contributed to the liberation his intonation and his rhythmic, modal and compositional thinking, and to the formation of his own individual style.

Bashmet, A. Boreiko, N. Burnasheva, A. Golyshev, Schostakovich State Quartet, E. Denisova (Austria), K. Dillingham (USA), I. Zaydenshnir, F. Cadena (Ecuador), A. Kornienko (Austria), Jens E. Christensen (Denmark), E. Kuschnerova (Germany), A. Naumenko (UK), N. Privarskaya, E. Rastvorova, M. Svetlov (USA), E. Serov, B. Tevlin, O. Tutova, V. Fedoseyev, A. Fiseisky, S. Cherepanov (Germany), I. Chukovskaya, V. Chpiller (Taiwan), A. Yakovlev (Argentina), O. Yanovich (USA), and others.

Mariinsky Theatre performed The Captain’s Daughter opera by Kollontay in a concert version in 2016 for the first time.

In 1989—1993 organized and headed the Creative Heritage Commission at the Union of Moscow Composers, which was engaged in preserving the archives of Moscow composers (among those saved are the archives of M. Raukhverger, M. Magidenko, N. Rakov, A. Balashov).